Emily shook her head because she didn’t want her children to know what had happened. Later, she bit her lower lip because it was a complicated situation. She didn’t want to involve the twins in it.
Jason patted Emily’s hand again. “I support you, Mommy. If you want to be with Mr. Jefferson, it may be better. At least, you smiled when we were in the Cold and Sweet.” The little boy was quiet as he recalled the day when they went to the ice cream parlor. “Mr. Jefferson seemed happy too. If we stay with him and the two of you can be happy, I will support you.”
Emily hugged both Jason and Mia. Her eyes were wet to know how much her children cared for her, so she knew she couldn’t be selfish.
Leaving Harold might bring too many consequences. Besides, he had done so much for
Emily didn’t know what to say because she didn’t know her feelings anymore. Jacob was her past, but also the father of her children. However, Harold was her present. Yet, his position as a mafia leader was truly hard to accept.It was strange that Jacob was also in the same status, but she ignored it. Probably it was because she didn’t consider Jacob in her life anymore, but she couldn’t resist him when he kissed or touched her.She exhaled and shook her head. “He was my past. Why did you ask?”It didn’t convince Harold since Emily took a long time to answer. So he finally nodded. “If he’s here, please arrange so I don’t need to meet him.”“Do you hate him?” Emily didn’t want
Jason and Mia were excited when Emily told them about the Lovely World. It was the first time they would try any rides there, so they discussed it from the moment Emily told them about tomorrow’s plan.“I want to ride carousels!” Mia exclaimed. “Oh, I can’t wait for tomorrow.”“We can see the fish and many animals too!” Jason grinned as he loved seeing the water animals. So far, he only watched them on TV.“Dad is cool! He knows where to visit.” The little girl raised her hands and shook them to the right and left. Then she glanced at her brother. “If Mommy returns to him, we may visit more cool places.”But Jason immediately shook his head. “No, don’t think like that. Don&rsq
The next day, Emily was nervous to wait for Jacob’s arrival while the children were enthusiastic. They kept talking about the rides they wanted to try. Five minutes to nine a.m., the bell rang, and the children ran to the front door.Jacob smiled to see the twins. “Wow! You two are ready!”“Yes, Dad!” Mia said while lifting her arms.Jacob raised her so he could kiss her forehead. “Dad’s daughter is so pretty today. Where’s your mommy?”Mia only pointed inside the house. “Mommy still wears the clothes.”“Let’s wait for her here, okay?” Then he brought Mia to the couch and sat while still holding Mia. “Son, sit here, please?&r
When they arrived at the theme park, it was crowded. However, Jacob already had some reserved tickets for them, so they didn’t need to queue for a long time. The two nurses also received their tickets.Jacob already created a schedule so the children could ride what they wanted. They enjoyed the carousels, Ferris wheel, seeing some princes and princesses in the castle, then they rode the train too in the theme park.Afterward, they had lunch at a restaurant. Emily ordered salmon salads and also orange juices for the twins. While she ordered seafood spaghetti with mushroom sauce and mineral water for herself.“Go ahead. Order your food,” Emily said to the nurses.However, they shook their heads. “Please order for us, m
Jacob immediately lifted Jason and ran to the parking lot. Emily, who didn’t notice what happened, was confused because Jacob ran so fast. When Jacob called her, she accepted the call right away.“Emily, we must go to the hospital. It’s an emergency. Please hurry to the parking lot!”Emily was anxious now because she didn’t know what had happened. Yet, she lifted Mia and asked the nurses to rush to the parking lot. When they were there, Jacob was cleaning Jason’s wound.“Oh, no! What happened?” The mother put a hand on her chest because it was the first time she saw her son was badly injured.“Jason tripped and fell to the ground, face first. His forehead hit a rock.” Then Jacob ordered Jimmy,
At night, Harold attended a meeting of the Silent Syndicate in the headquarters. The agenda was to determine their next leader. It was a regular thing they would discuss every decade. Considering they could choose a new leader after a decade, it would ensure that the syndicate wouldn’t have a bad leader for too long.Five-year leadership changes were suggested because a decade seemed too much. However, most leaders opposed the feedback in the last meeting. It was impractical to change a new leader every five years. Besides, creating a leadership structure required a long time. Changing it every five years would be unproductive.Harold willingly stepped aside for a new leader to take his place. It wasn’t a big deal for him to be the highest leader or not because he was already busy in his business too. Yet, since most of the Silent Syndic
Gordon Wilson, the Silent Syndicate leader in the drug department, raised his hand.George nodded at him. “Yes, Gordon?”“I think it’s better we raise our hands for people who choose Harold as our leader.”Then all raised their hands, except Harold. When they realized it, the leaders laughed aloud.George grinned at Harold. “See? I told you.” Then he headed to the door and pressed an intercom. It connected to the guard outside. “Bring the champagne!”Some servers entered the meeting room with empty wine glasses on trays. Another bought a cart with two ice buckets and a few bottles of champagne. They opened the bottles, poured the liquid into the wine glasses, then se
After the meeting, Lee approached Harold. He shook Harold’s hand first and congratulated him. “Can I talk to you?”“Go ahead.”He glanced around to see some leaders remained there. “Well, can we talk privately?”Harold nodded and escorted Lee to the next room. It was a smaller room. He sat on a brown couch and gestured his hand to ask Lee to sit too.Then he asked, “So, what do you want to discuss with me?”“We currently want to recruit a new member. Since we need a diversion, the member is outstanding at providing it.”“Oh? So?” Harold raised his eyebrow because recruiting a team member wasn&rsquo
They didn’t explore Santorini further because they were too busy with each other. A week passed swiftly, and they only spent most of their time in the hotel room.She giggled and shook her head. “What should we tell Mom and Dad if they asked what we did on our honeymoon?”“They won’t ask because they once were young too.” He chuckled.“But we must bring some souvenirs for them and also for the children. I also want to buy something for Pauline. You, too, should buy something for Al.”He closed his eyes, pretending to let out a sigh, but then he opened his eyes again and grinned. “Fine! Let’s hunt for the gifts!”Later, Nikos drove them to Fira, the capital of S
They finished the ceremonies, and some guests already left because they would have a wedding reception at Hoffner’s Hotel. Jacob booked the hotel for the reception, and Samuel gave him a special price.They met with Samuel and Amy’s children: Shane, Melanie, Sammy, and Vivi. Later, the children played with Jason and Mia.Amy hugged her distant cousin. “Congratulations on your wedding.”“Thanks, Amy.” Then she whispered, “At first I was insecure with you since I knew Jacob still loved you. But now, I know he already got over it.”Amy shook her head and smiled. “He didn’t have any feelings left for me.” Then she whispered, “Look how he stares at you? It’s the sign of a man who loves h
The musician played the hymn “Amazing Grace”. It was the sign for the wedding ceremony to begin.Elsa nodded at Mia. “It’s your time, sweetheart.”The little one smiled and nodded. “Yes, Grandma.” She walked to the back of the aisle then started stepping forward through it by spreading the flower petals, following the song.The guests smiled to see the adorable little girl. Jason, who glanced at his sister, also raised his thumb and smiled to support her. Mia kept smiling and looked to the right and left as she walked and spread the flower petals.After the song finished, it changed to another song “Second Chance” by Trisha Yearwood. It was a song that Pauline chose because she knew what the wedding meant
When seeing the ladies, Jimmy, Jacob’s driver, smiled and opened the limousine door for them. Meanwhile, Jacob, Al, Jason, and Daniel were already waiting at church.All the Cleaner Gold leaders were there. Some of Jacob’s staff from JJ’s Properties were there too.Jacob and Al stood outside of the church on a terrace. They could see the parking lot and the church door clearly from their place.He glanced at his wrist many times to see the time. Then he gazed at the parking lot to see no limousine had already arrived. Later, he took a deep breath to calm himself.Al chuckled and shook his head to see his friend’s obvious nervousness. “She’ll be here soon. Don’t worry, Bro!”&ldq
A week swiftly went by like flying as they were busy with the wedding preparation. Finally, it was four a.m. on the wedding day.Two makeup artists and a hairdresser already arrived at Emily’s house. They prepared the living room for working.Now, they were busy putting makeup on Emily, Pauline, Elsa, and also Mia. For Mia, the makeup artist only applied powder and lip gloss because Emily didn’t want her daughter to put on makeup while the little girl was still too young for that.Two hours later, the hairdresser and makeup artists finished their work. They left the house and went to the church because they prepared if anyone needed a makeup or hairstyle redo. It was because Jacob wanted everything to be perfect today.Then Elsa and Pauline helped
Emily stared at Jacob and the ring. She bit her lower lip because she didn’t know what to say.Jacob took a deep breath because he wasn’t ready to accept a refusal. Then he forced a smile. “It’s okay if you don’t want to marry me now. Maybe you want to enjoy your time alone first.”But then Emily shook her head. “No.” She held both of his hands. “I want to make you the happiest man, Jacob. So, it’s a yes.”Jacob immediately stood and put the ring on her finger. Then he kissed her lips and hugged her tightly.He laughed and shook his head. “I thought you would say no. I don’t know what I would do if you refused me.”She giggled and cupped his f
Jacob, Jason, and Mia went to a Chinese food bistro. Jacob already ordered by phone various dumplings for them all, wonton soup for Jason, then salt and pepper chicken, stir-fried beef with ginger, Peking duck, and seafood fried noodles.The service was fast. After they arrived, in five minutes, all the food was served. Mia frowned because she didn’t have the wonton soup either.“Dad?”“Yes, sweetheart?”“Why I don’t get the soup?”“It’s because your brother has a cold. Do you want the soup?”The little girl glanced at Jason’s bowl and nodded. So Jacob raised his hand.
Soon after the meeting ended, Jacob entered a room next to the meeting room and pressed the button from Harold three times.Then, after a minute, Harold called him. “Well?”“We have agreed. The offer is fifty trillion with fifty years of credit and a trillion of payment each year and a trillion for the down payment,” Jacob said.Harold whistled to hear the number, but he knew with various businesses the Gold Cleaner had, fifty trillion was a reasonable price. “Anyone in your team want to enter our boat?”“Nope, they are happy with us.” He was smiling when saying it. “So, it will be purely a facility, land, building, systems, and the networks we will sell and transfer to you.”
Warning: violent scene. Please proceed with precautions for readers sensitive to violent scenes.“You called him too, Al?” Jacob asked. “I also called him back then, but he didn’t pick up the call nor called me back either.” He let out a sigh. “Now we know why.”Al said nothing, but his eyes glared at Stanley. It was an unforgivable act because Stanley’s betrayal cost Art’s life.Jacob’s eyes were chilly when he gazed at Stanley. “You told us earlier that Gold Cleaner is your family and will stay like that. You even said you didn’t want to work under Montgomery and the Silent Syndicate.” Then Jacob added slowly to emphasize his words, “Now we all know it’s all just bullshit!”